Sweet Treat for Chocolate Lab Champion
Dog lovers from Indiana to California gathered recently just outside of St. Louis to witness the 2010 Purina Incredible Dog Challenge [PIDC] National Championships taking place once again at Gray Summit’s Purina Farms.
The stadium and grassy knoll were lined with people and their dogs bonding over a time honored tradition. Families discussed their shared love of specific breeds, and pets enjoyed meeting new playmates.
And, on a gloomy Saturday weather-wise, Sean McCarthy of Riverside, Iowa, and his Chocolate Lab, Jordan, an athletic dog that loves to dive, treated those people and their pets to a sweet spectacle.
On the diving platform, home base for the PIDC Dog Diving contest, the competition was fierce. Twice two different dogs broke the 30 foot 10 inch world record.
The previous day, McCarthy and Jordan entered the event through the open qualifier. During the competition on Saturday, Lise Ann Strum of San Diego, and her Belgian Malinois, VB, initially broke the world record with a dive of 31 feet 1 inch.
But, VB only held the new record for just under 10 minutes.
Flying with ease and grace through the air, landing effortlessly into the diving pool, Jordan swiped the world record from VB. Jordan jumped 31 feet 2 inches, splashing some of the 19,000 gallons of water from the elongated pool.
During the diving dogs event, the athletic canines were graded on the length of six jumps into the pool. Kids lined up on the edge of the bleachers in the “splash zone” waiting to get drenched by the dog dive teams.
Besides open qualifiers, dogs qualifying in the Eastern and Western Regionals held earlier this year, competed to become the top PIDC dog in each National Championships event.
Set your DVRs to tune in to NBC at 3:30PM ET on Saturday, January 15, 2011, to see all the action from the National Finals event.
Diving Dog Results
- 1st - Jordan & Sean McCarthy
- 2nd - VB & Lise Ann Strum
- 3rd - Smoke & Melissa Ness
